The latest chapter in the saga of air pollution in Portland comes amid reports of poisonous gas on Hayden Island, but experts say it’s unlikely Vancouver was affected.
“At this point, there’s not enough known to suggest there’s really any impact to residents in Vancouver,” said Paul Mairsose, chief engineer at the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency.
The Oregonian reported Friday that monitoring from November to January by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed that hydrogen sulfide, a colorless and foul-smelling gas, was detected on the island.
The EPA released a statement Saturday that said, based on tests so far, the agency does not expect serious health issues from the levels and duration of the hydrogen sulfide exposures. It said the levels detected could cause short term transient health effects and very unpleasant odors, which the agency said was consistent with the complaints from local residents.
“What we know at this time is that during 60-days of continuous air monitoring there were approximately eight short term detections of hydrogen sulfide,” the EPA statement said. “Most of these detections lasted a few minutes, though one lasted longer and we are working to verify how long. The levels of hydrogen sulfide detected can cause short term transient health effects such as headaches and shortness of breath.”
The EPA statement said the detections seem to be coming from a number of different sources. Additional monitoring is planned this weekend, and state and federal officials have already conducted several facility inspections, the statement said.
Since last summer, some residents on the island reportedly complained for months about high concentrations of pollution and problems such as headaches and nosebleeds.
Mairsose said Vancouver residents don’t have reason to worry based on the news, but without more information from the EPA it was difficult to comment further.
“If it’s short bursts of releases, which is maybe what’s suggested there, it takes wind to get it across the river, and one minute burst is going to be pretty dispersed,” he said. “It’s one of those things that smells really bad; you will notice via the nose before it has health effects.”
Hydrogen sulfide is notorious for smelling like rotten eggs. It’s harmless in small amounts, but in large quantities it can paralyze the olfactory nerves in the nose and cause death. It’s typically found around facilities such as oil refineries, sewers and paper mills.
“Even the Camas mill,” Mairsose said. “You can smell that depending on the wind direction. The pulp smell is the hydrogen sulfide.”
According to the Oregonian, the EPA and Oregon sate officials are examining two nearby oil recycling companies: American Petroleum Environmental Services and the Oil Re-Refining Company.
Mairsose also said the clean air agency will know more after the EPA releases more information on its findings. It is expected to do so on May 9 at an evening community meeting.
